Watergate Burglars

There were 5 burglars arrested on June 17, 1972 at the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee.

From left to right, the burglars were:

James W. McCord – a security co-ordinator for the Republican National Committee and the Committee for the Re-election of the President. McCord was also a former FBI and CIA agent. He was dismissed from his RNC and CREEP positions the day after the break-in.

Virgilio R. Gonzales – a locksmith from Miami, Florida. Gonzalez was a refugee from Cuba, following Castro’s takeover.

Frank A. Sturgis – another associate of Barker from Miami, he also had CIA connections and involvement in anti-Castro activities.

Bernard L. Barker – a realtor from Miami, Florida. Former Central Intelligence Agency operative. Barker was said to have been involved in the Bay of Pigs incident in 1962.

The five men were charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications.

The burglars were indicted by a Grand Jury on September 15, as were:

G. Gordon Liddy – from Washington, counsel to the Finance Committee to Re-elect the President, a former FBI agent, former Treasury official, and former member of the White House staff. During the investigation, Liddy refused to answer questions and was fired from his job.

E Howard Hunt Jr. – from Washington, a former White House consultant and CIA employee. Hunt was a writer of espionage novels and had worked on declassifying the Pentagon Papers.

FBI Files

These are 141 pages from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, released under the Freedom of Information Act, relating to the investigation of the Watergate burglary and subsequent events.